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I am back!! Pretty sure that posts two days in a row might be a sign of the apocalypse. So I made you all wait a whole day for the other afghan I completed in August. So, this afghan is a single block from a CAL that Moogly is throwing this year. I loved this block and the colors that were used and decided to make a whole afghan using this one block.

Crocheted by Jennifer Miner. Pattern from Polly Plum

Seriously I feel in love with the colors and pattern created by Polly Plum of Every Trick on the Hook. It is called Simbelmyne and it is lovely. The blocks are 12″x12.” I used her color scheme as below.

Vanna’s Choice

Radiant Lime

Toffee

Raspberry

White

Aquamarine

Mustard

Pattern by Polly Plum

If you have never worked with one of Polly Plum’s patterns you are missing out. She gives great directions and the photos with details are fantastic. This made it so easy to create the squares. You can find the pattern for this block here.

Flat Braid Join

In this afghan, I used a new method to join my blocks called the Flat Braid Join. I followed the tutorial from The Patchwork Heart (here). I wasn’t able to get my join to look nice as a continuous join so I just did it block by block. Just a heads up these directions are in UK terms so just be aware. I loved the way the join looked.

Lace fan border

I added a border from Edie Eckman book Around the Corner. I was a slacker and did not sew in my ends as I went so it took forever to sew in all of those ends. It was totally worth the time as I am so pleased with this project. There is a chance that this may not make it to its recipient for Christmas. Not really but I might snuggle under it just once before packing it up if it ever cools off here.

Crochet Afghan because August is for Afghans

I really had to force myself to stop making blocks for this afghan I was just having too much fun. I was also happy with the border.

Crochet edges

The only downside of this pattern was that I did have to run around a little to collect all the yarn I needed. No one store had the whole palette. If I was able to plan ahead I could have probably ordered them all at once but I am terrible at estimating how much I will need, so there is always a trip to the store. I hope you enjoyed today’s post!

Nothing says hot weather like working under a warm blanket, okay well maybe not but I finished two afghans last month and I had to share. I know that many fiber craftspeople don’t make blankets or afghans in the hotter months but I have such a back log I feel like I have to! The one time that this is a problem is joining and sewing in ends. This can be hot work! I usually try to keep the work off my lap and sit by the air conditioning vent and it really helps. These are the two afghans I mentioned in my last post. I have decided to post them even though they are Christmas gifts, I think that they will still be a surprise. Or at the least, the recipients will forget that they ever saw them since Christmas is so far away!

Crochet Afghan by Jennifer MinerCreated by Jennifer Miner

The first afghan was my very first Crochet-Along. I shared a few photos in this post. This afghan represents a few “firsts” for me. It was my first CAL, the first time I blocked squares, the first afghan with all different blocks and the first time I sewed in my ends as I went along. Sewing in your ends as you finish a block makes the finishing of the afghan so much more pleasant. Nothing like sitting and sewing in 300+ ends.

Looking forward to those cold months

The CAL I followed is from the Creative Crochet Workshop and is called Crochet a Block Afghan 2017. You can find all of the patterns on their website here. I used Vanna’s Choice in

Dark Grey Heather

Silver Heather

Rose Shocking

Aquamarine

Every block is different!

This was really fun and I truly looked forward to the days when the next block was released. Since the blocks were released once a week I had plenty of time to sew in the ends before the next block was released.

Hooked by Jennifer Miner

The border is pretty simple but there is so much going on in the afghan itself I think that it totally works.

August is for afghans

The cat really likes this afghan and I have had to kick him off it a few times when it was in my studio.

The completed afghan on a full sized bedCreated by Jennifer MinerThe edging

Originally I was going to showcase both afghans today but I think that I will make you come back tomorrow! However, if you have read this far I will give you a little sneak peek.

Sneaky peak of the other afghan

I really hope that it cools off here in Colorado soon. We are in the upper 80s/90s this whole week. I am ready for the Fall! Hopefully soon thanks for visiting.

Back today with a new little toothpick doll. Truth be told she has been done awhile I just haven’t made time to share her with you! I started this doll ages ago and she sat in my box of supplies with no head or arms. You see, the arms are the hardest part to get right with these little dolls. It can be a real challenge to get them to match up. So, when I came across this little lady in my most recent endeavor to tidy up my studio space I decided that she must be completed. Thus the Tudor Princess was born.

Tudor Princess Toothpick Doll by Jennifer Miner

I will admit that there are times that I get a little over zealous with my research to make my dolls historically accurate. This doll is what I would call “loosely Tudor.” There are a lot of details that have to be skipped or that are simply not possible when working on this scale.

Side View

This doll turned out a tiny bit shorter than my Fairy Doll, she is just under 3 inches tall. The “braid” trim was created with two strands of floss and was created using a rope making technique.

Back View

The hair was created by wrapping the damp floss around a few toothpicks and leaving it to dry. I have dolls that are over 20 years old that still have curled hair. It is sort of crazy that such an easy process will stay for so long, but I can attest that it does.

By Jennifer Miner

I made her headdress by gluing embroidery floss to a non-stick mat and once it was dry cutting the floss to the correct shape. Once it was attached, I also added a little bit of trim. Based on my research most Tudor women wore a hair covering or net of some sort but nothing I tried really worked out so her hair remains scandalously uncovered. I made her collar in the same manner.

I use Aleene’s Tack Glue and there is a little flexibility in the pieces once they are dry. The one downside of the Aleene’s is that it tastes terrible. Yes, I realize that sounds strange but there are times when I hold something in my teeth and as a result get a little taste of glue. You may just have to trust me on this one.

Tudor Princess Toothpick Doll

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed today’s doll. I completed two afghans in August but they are Christmas gifts so I am debating if I should wait to share them with you. Have a great day!

As we are winding down our summer we have been trying to squeeze a few special days and projects in. Last week we did glass fusing, which was a blast. I think I might be hooked. This sparked a whole interest in glass work in general; stain glass, mosaics, and fused glass. Then there was a moment when the little person was looking at Pinterest with me and we saw a blinged flamingo. Sold, done this was going to happen.

A Blingo in its natural environment

On Monday, we set out to find our flamingos. I was pleasantly surprised to find a pair at the local party store. We had some gems left over from previous projects but decided that we needed more. In the end, we actually ended up getting two boxes of acrylic gems in addition to what we already had on hand. Thus the Blingos, Rhinegos, Flaminglows, Bling Flamingos were born.

This Blingo is after the tomatoes

The boxes of gems we purchased came with more than one color so we had to sort or gems before we could glue them. I would say that it took about four sessions with dry time between to finish my flamingo. I started with E6000 but reading the back of the tube freaked me out, the warnings have gotten more serious since I had purchased a tube. We picked up some outdoor silicon and that worked like a charm. We worked outside and the silicone was nearly odor free with the breeze. I thought about grouting my flamingo but decided that might be overkill, although I always reserve the right to change my mind.

I love our Blingos, and I think that they look fantastically kitschy! These bedazzled birds were a great mother/daughter project. These were easy and you are rewarded with instant shimmer and shine.

A little adhesive and a lot of rhinestones

You have about 30 minutes working time with the adhesive so I would gloop out a bit in the area I was working then add me presorted gems. I found that if I laid out my gems flat side down and then used a Pick-Me-Up/Quickstik I could work pretty quickly.

TheBlingos should hold up to the weather, we hope, but I might bring them in before it snows.

Lots of sparkle!End of the summer mother/daughter project

I loved this project! this was a pretty easy project, so don’t be afraid and bling up a flamboyance of flamingos yourself. (That is really what a group of flamingos is called, and it is awesome). Every time I let the dogs out these little guys bring a smile to my face.

Enjoy the end of your summer! We are gearing up for the eclipse here. They are saying we should have about 92-93% complete eclipse, we have our glasses and are very excited.

Another Crochet Rabbit

You may remember the darling little crochet rabbit I made a few weeks ago. Well, while that little one was under construction, I had a request to create another one. Of course, this one had to be different from the first.

Crochet Bunny by Jennifer

I used the same pattern, available here. This time I used Lion Brand Homespun in Barley. Again, I mostly used the pattern. I kind of make changes on the fly while I work. For this pattern, I have lengthened the legs and arms. I just liked the way that looked.

The Homespun yarn is very forgiving and nice to work with. The finished bunny is very soft. If I were to make it again I think that I would have held two strands of yarn together. I really was hoping that it would be a little bigger but I didn’t want too many holes in the fabric.

Crochet Rabbit – the close-up

Another change on this rabbit was the face. I added a nose and mouth with embroidery floss. While my embroidery skills will not win any prizes I think that she has lots of personality.

Bunny Booty

One thing that is the same between these two bunnies is the over sized tail. I think that they are my favorite part! Why is making pom-poms so much fun! For this crochet bunny, I started with a much larger pom-pom and then trim it and trim it and then trim it some more until I have the size that I want. I find that doing this gives you a very dense pom-pom.

Doin’ what rabbit’s do, getting into the flowers

I just can’t keep these rabbits out of the flower pot! This was a quick little project and I am always happy to take requests from my daughter.

This post is all about dads! Well, the birthday cards I made for my dad and my father-in-law. I am lucky in that their birthdays are within a few days so that means that I get to hit two birds with one stone this year and make similar cards. Last year, I made my father-in-law a very special Cubs card. I am not going to say that was why they won, but I can’t say that it didn’t help.

Created by Jennifer Miner

Well, on to our Steampunk Birthday Cards. These were so much fun and involved lots of supplies. All of the paper I used in these cards started as either white or black cardstock and they ended up at 5″x7″. I just loved how they turned out. As you may have noticed, I haven’t done a ton of cards this summer but it was great to get back into the swing of things.

Happy Birthday Card by Jennifer Miner

I was really channeling the pickers on these, I was imagining vintage signs with rust and peeling paint. I felt like I had half of my drawers on my workspace when I finished.

Channeling the “Pickers”

When I was creating the cards, I tried to keep to that vintage feel and there is no better product line than Tim Holtz for that. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the gears and the sentiment frame.

Grungy Birthday

I will have a complete list of the products I used to create these birthday cards below.

Well, if you are a card maker you probably know that the new Tim Holtz Distress Oxides are the latest hot trend from Time Holtz, who we love (ps). I will admit that I have the capability to go full hoarder on all things Tim Holtz and these are no exception. I knew that I would need them and that it was really useless to try and resist. I ordered the first collection which includes Worn Lipstick, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Peeled Paint, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Iced Spruce, Faded Jeans, Wilted Violet, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain. I really wanted to use them right when they arrived but I was just too busy with other projects.

Well, I finally got a chance to work with them and yep, they are awesome. And yes, I will now have to buy the whole collection. I must have them in all colors. Just have to, there is no point in resisting. I whipped up a card to go with my Maleficent cross stitch. I really liked how the inks performed and I am loving the finished product.

Tim Holtz Distress Card by Jennifer Miner

I started with my white cardstock and stenciled the diamonds using Worn Lipstick, Wilted Violet, Broken China and Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide Inks. The stencil is actually too small to cover the whole background but I was able to line it up and I think that it looks like it was done all at once. Once I had my diamonds I went back over them with the same colors. Then I added some distress with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain around the edge. The last step on the background was a little flick with water.

Just a hint of glitter

Once the background had dried, I added the stenciled flourish. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the shape from a piece of clear acetate. Then I applied Golden Molding Paste colored with Distress Ink Reinker in Walnut Stain over the stencil. You have to clean up your acetate immediately or the paste will not come off. Once I was done stenciling I added a touch of Distress Glitter in Rock Candy over the wet paste. This was then set aside to dry.

Distress Oxide Card with Roses

While I was patiently waiting for my background to dry, I created my roses. I used my McGill Paper Blossom punches and the Distress Oxide Ink to create the blooms. Then I created the sentiment by stamping the words on a piece of scrap paper then trimming it down and adding Vintage Photo Distress Oxide. When the background was dry I glued the roses on and added the sentiment with two lavender eyelets.

Distress Oxide Ink Happy Birthday Card

I mounted my panel on a piece of brown cardstock and then inked another background with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain. The last step was to add a little bit more shimmer with the adhesive gems.

Shabby Chic Distress Card by Jennifer Miner

I will totally admit that I am loving the Distress Oxides. Yet another great product from the master! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the card.

62 Skeins, 56 Colors, 41,830 Stitches, 2.5 years

This was one beast of a project. I was beginning to fear that she would never get completed. When I started this project for my mother, whose favorite villain is Maleficent. I thought that I would be able to get her done in a few months, just in time for Christmas. Wow was I wrong. It took me two additional Christmases and several birthdays to get her completed.

Maleficent Cross Stitch by Jennifer Miner

Now, it wasn’t just that it was the most complex cross-stitch that I have ever attempted (there are 12 shades of purple in there) but she kept getting bumped for other projects. Well, after the big Harry Potter Birthday Party, I decided that this was the year and that I was going to get her done before my mom’s birthday. I attacked this project with renewed motivation and got it done. I was even able to get the project framed prior to the day.

Close-up

I think that projects are funny like that. Sometimes you just have to be “in the mood” to get them done. I once read that if you haven’t worked on a project in six months you are probably not going to finish it and that you should pitch it. For me, this is generally not true. I really make an effort to finish what I start and things do get set aside before I can get to them. So, I guess that it is a case of doing what works for you. In fact, I had a half completed toothpick doll that had been sitting in my box of doll supplies. I worked on her last week and will be sharing my finished doll soon.

Two and half years in the making

On that note, I have completed the crochet on one blanket and am starting the process of sewing in my ends (this one may have to wait, a little as it is too hot to sit under an afghan right now), I have one more square on my Creative Crochet Workshop CAL afghan. There will be a border and joining will still need to be done but we are getting close! I have also picked up a knit blanket that I started last Spring. I am trying to get the major UFOs tackled around here. My goal is to not buy any supplies for a new project before I get these done. I think that I can do it, although I am really wanting to start a temperature blanket. No, I will be strong, I will resist!! I will probably buy supplies tomorrow. Oh, and I forgot I still have my Sophie’s Universe have completed and hiding in the basement, and two quilts, and and and . . . . Well, you get the idea.

Today, I am sharing the latest creation to find her way out of my studio. This is a little toothpick doll fairy. She was so much fun to make. As with the other toothpick dolls, she was created using toothpicks, glue, and embroidery floss. I tried out a new technique to create the wings and overall they turned out pretty good. This is something that I will have to keep experimenting with.

Toothpick Fairy

I started her creation with the tiered skirt. This took lots of time and patience. Once that was complete, I added her two-tone bodice.

Left-Side View

I added a tiny braid to the top and bottom. Embroidery floss is made of six smaller strands and I used to individual strands to create the braid.

Right-Side View

Next, I started creating the roses. These are created by wrapping small amounts of floss in the tip of a toothpick. The vines are created by wrapping dampened floss around a toothpick and allowing the floss to dry.

By Jennifer Miner

I also added tiny knots as accents. I used the same pallet of colors as the skirt.

Next came the arms, which included pink upper arm braces and more vines.

A Back View

Next, it was time for the hair! Thanks to Pinterest I knew that I wanted to create a faux-hawk braid. I used two shades of pink. I split each strand into individual pieces before bringing them back together for the hair. Again I added some more roses for the hair.

Tiny Fairy

I created the wings using individual strands of floss and regular glue. As I mentioned this was a new technique and needs a little more finesse, but pretty good for a first attempt.

View from the underside

Above you can see a view from the underside. This shows all the many layers of floss that go into creating the skirt. The little void in the middle is here her toothpick legs are.

This little doll was so much fun and it was really nice just working from my own imagination. This is my first doll with pink hair and I think that this might be a little trend in the doll studio.

I am still working on slowing down and taking my time and I am really trying to enjoy the process. This is certainly one of my favorite creations. Thanks for visiting – off to the studio!

Today’s project is a crochet baby blanket and bunny stuffie. I love making baby gifts. These two projects are for a new addition to our extended family. I was a little late getting them done, a certain Harry Potter Party got me a little behind, okay a lot behind, on my other projects. However, I was happy with how they turned out and while a little late the baby in questions hasn’t started college yet.

Granny Square Baby Blanket

Let’s start with the baby blanket. I made this blanket with one ball of Lion Brand Ice Cream Big Scoop in Tutti Fruiti. This was a simple jumbo granny square. The one difference was that when you start a new row you change direction. This gives the neat color pooling that you can see in the blanket. This was a very simple project and in fact, the first 2/3 of this blanket were done while I was waiting in the carpool. I just can’t sit and not do something with my hands. You could easily use any yarn for this and make it any size. You can find the pattern over on Lion Brand’s site here.

Now, on to the bunny! This little crochet darling was made using Bernat PipSqueak in Pixie Pow. The pattern I used is from One Dog Woof and can be found here. My favorite thing about the yarn/pattern combo was how forgiving it was.

Crochet bunny in a flower pot.

I did make a few alterations to the pattern as I went along. In fact, I think that the head was the only piece that I didn’t alter. I made the abdomen a little larger and the legs, arms, and ear a little longer. I didn’t really keep track of what I did but I just worked until I was happy with the shape of length and then moved on to the next part.

My daughter loved this bunny and I was only able to send it along with the promise that I would make another for her.

I added a pom-pom tail with basic acrylic yarn out of my stash. I loved the tail, it also helps this little bunny sit-up. I trimmed a lot off my original pom-pom which is why the end result is a tight dense ball.

Pom pom bunny tail

The pattern gives directions for an embroidered nose and I really went back and forth on whether to add one or not, but in the end, I just left the nose off and I think that this bunny looks fine without one. The eyes are plastic safety eyes and she was stuffed with basic polyfill. I hope that she will be loved.